We were about to embark on a series of short hops in our travels. Today's leg from Standown to Poona was to be a mere 80 kms, a doddle. But Poona, where on earth is Poona I hear you ask...and what's there?
Poona is a small town about 30 kms south-east of Maryborough on what is known as the Fraser Coast. It lies on the edge of the strip of water which separates the mainland from Fraser Island, the Great Sandy Straits. It is almost directly opposite Hook Point, the southern tip of that huge sand island.
All the blurb which I had read suggested that the Poona Palms Caravan Park is one of the most picturesque in Queensland. It is right on the water and here the fishing is reportedly great. Why not, we thought. One of our missions on this trip north up the Queensland coast is to explore new holiday destinations. Poona certainly looked promising.
As the rising sun over Standown brought a blush to the morning clouds, we were making our departure preparations, not that we were in any rush....our estimated travelling time was only an hour.
After fond farewells and a late breakfast we headed out onto the Tin Can Bay Road once more. Some 20 kms or so short of Tin Can, our route took us on the road to Maryborough,
but not for long.
This is still pine plantation country. As we later discovered the forests extend all the way to Maryborough and beyond. One reason for this is to be found not too far from the Standown Park....a large laminex factory operates there 24 hours a day. Its appetite for pine timber chips is insatiable.
Just as in the south-east of SA we passed felled areas and
areas of new growth.
At the Poona turn-off the backdrop was a stand of mature trees, soon for the chop. Seven kilometres to go.
And, as we made our way across this floodway into Poona, we spotted a yellow warning sign. Surely there can't be crocs here! No, this time we were being urged to watch out for log trucks.....felling was in process between here and our destination.
And here we were, approaching the odd, upright town signs used throughout this area.
In no time we had traversed the western end of this surprisingly spread out town and reached the roadway to our park.
As we made our right turn, we could see that we were indeed near the water.....it was right at the end of this short street (which leads to the Poona boat ramp).
The culvert and drainage ditch at the entrance to the park suggested heavy rains fall here.....they do, as we were later to find out!
But for now, under sunny and warm skies, we turned into the park entrance,
drove in past the park motel units,
drove in past the park motel units,
and pulled up at the office, park shop and owners' residence, almost hidden behind the palms.
Poona's general store closed some time ago and has not reopened. Taking up the slack, the park office
also doubles as a store of sorts. Woolies or Coles it ain't, but the basics are here, together with lots of fishing tackle, bait and some beach wear.
Opposite the park office stands the very adequate camp kitchen and the ablution block surrounded by a lovely little garden, and more palms....'Poona Palms' now made sense.
Our site was at the end of the short roadway past these facilities
and the quite impressive park pool complex, complete with water slide.
We were to find ourselves almost directly opposite the pool, and after a bit of fiddling and use of our levelling blocks we were all set.
We had been allocated a slab site (at our request). When we arrived, the park was crowded with the members of a caravan club. All the sites near ours were occupied, unlike when these photos were taken, and getting on was a little tricky. The other thing I had in mind was the forecast rain later in the week. I was very concerned to make sure we were close enough to the slab to ensure that our awning stretched out right across it so that water pouring off the edge would fall on the ground. This we achieved, but to limited avail as you will see later.
For the moment, and indeed for the majority of our stay, the weather was fine and warm. As is her want, Liz made the most of the afternoon sun whilst yours truly was in his cot for my obligatory daily survival nap.
But before that, after set up, there was work to be done. I was concerned that our compressor was not working properly. This is an important component of our kit. When ever we are spending some time at a particular spot, and know that we shall be touring, I deflate the rear suspension air bags to soften the ride when we are unencumbered by the van. Of course that means that they have to be blown up again prior to each departure.....for this last leg I had not been able to do so. This could not be allowed to go on.
Now I have always admitted that I am not handy with repairs and things mechanical, but I had fixed the compressor before (at Horrocks Beach in WA) many months ago. I suspected another internal broken wire, but first things first....check the fuses.
And it's not often that I am prepared to tell a story against myself, but here I have to put aside all embarrassment for the sake of the truth. After pulling this entire unit to pieces, I could find nothing amiss in the internal wiring or the fuses. 'What is going on', I mused.
Then came the voice of doom from under the awning...."I suppose you had it plugged in to the Anderson plug properly". "Of course I did", was the snapped reply. But then came that niggling cloud of doubt...had I really engaged the plug fully? Yep, I can tell you are already well ahead of this tale.....needless to say a proper connection to the plug at the rear of the Cruiser did the trick...the compressor chugged into life and I wandered off to lick my wounds!
The Poona Palms is not a large park, and I have to say, whilst it is attractive, to describe it as one of the most beautiful in Queensland is a step too far. But it is very pleasant. Apart from the ubiquitous palms, behind our site is a large row of shade trees, which in the hot weather would more than compensate for the challenges involved in getting on site here (that large drainage ditch runs the length of this side of the park just to the right of this shot)
Apart from quite a few slabs, both on the boundary roads (that's us at the far end)
and in the grassed central area (with the building of the rustic but adequate ablution block close handy)
this park offers grass powered sites
and an unpowered camping area.
Like all parks, Poona Palms has its share of 'permanents' (the right hand row)
some of whom make more effort than others to tart up their modest homes such as this array of nautical knick-knacks.
The small tinny near this particular shack certainly demonstrated that its owner is blessed with a sense of the ridiculous!
And, again like most parks, some of the residents here enjoy the company of their four legged friends. This little chap was on for a big game and was very put out when we moved on.
All in all we were more than comfortable here. The genial park owners invite all to a Saturday evening sausage sizzle in the camp kitchen, and as we spent ten days here we were able to front up for two.
Comfortable that is until our last few days when the redoubtable forecasters at the Bureau of Met. began to hammer out warnings.....a deepening upper level trough moving in from the west was about to collide with a rapidly moving southern disturbance coming up the coast. The resulting 'east coast low' was being predicted to produce heavy winds and rain from Fraser Island in the north, south to the NSW border. We were right in the firing line!
Fortunately the bulk of Fraser Island, which is only a few kilometres to the east of Poona (as you will see later), protected us from the winds, well the worst of them anyway.
But not the rain. It began slowly at about 0400 hours and steadily built up. By first light it was pouring down. The outlook was bleak to say the least.
One glance at the edge of our awning showed that it was not sufficiently angled down to one end. The water was streaming off the edge of the awning (but at least it was missing the slab!) Urgent action was required.
Down went the front awning leg a couple of notches
and at least then the deluge was being diverted off onto the grass at the front of the slab.
Despite the sandy soil here, the park was soon flooded and remained this way for the next 24 hours. But as we have always maintained, here in Qld at least the rain is warm!
This was the same system which created havoc on the Gold Coast. We did dodge the worst of it, but it was still one of those days when we hunker down indoors. The movies stored on our DVD player come into their own and I can make a dent or two in the backlog of the blog. Fortunately it had all blown through by the time we were packing up to leave.....pulling down in the wet is caravanning misery, believe me.
In my next we explore what turned out to be another fascinating little country Queensland town.
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